Think About A Field Of Work Not A Specific Job
When finding the right career path for you, Janice advises that you look beyond job titles and think instead of the bigger picture a field of work where you can be motivated enough to continually achieve higher levels of performance. Whilst a particular job title may not always sound like what you had in mind, whats important is whether or not it moves your career in the right direction.
Debbie Foley, who started out in retail sales and operations and now heads up a global marketing team says:
I always loved retail and believed it would be where I would work forever. I discovered that my field of work is about customers and people which led me to commercial sales and marketing roles across different businesses doing jobs I would never have thought of. At Shell, I was actively encouraged to think about roles that would build on my strengths but also provide new and challenging experiences to develop me further.”
Go To A Networking Group
Join groups to meet people focused on career or skill development. Talk to people there about their current careers, or about careers theyre interested in and why.
Attending meetings for people interested in particular careers, such as a group for future physical therapists, could help you explore the path to that career. Attending a skill-building group, such as Toastmasters, can show you how various skills and strengths apply to different careers.
Truity: The Big Five Personality Test
With this free career personality test, youll discover more about how you relate to others in less than 10 minutes. The results detail how open to new experiences you are, how much self-discipline you may have, how much of an extrovert you are, and how you handle stressful situationsnot just how you imagine yourself to be. This intel is especially useful to understand when it comes to how you handle your job and coworkers and what kind of work environment would be best for you.
Note: While the basic results are free, youll have to pay to see your full report.
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Take A Personality Test
Your personality is an important thing to consider when choosing the right career path for you. There are a variety of personality tests designed specifically to help people determine a subject to study, a career to pursue and even the types of interpersonal relationships that are best suited for them. Consider a personality test or assessment that reviews interest, aptitude, character and emotional composition. Here is a list of five personality tests for you to consider:
Read more:18 Personality Tests To Help You Discover Your Strengths
Get Training And Update Your Resume
Once youve narrowed your list down to one or possibly two career paths, youll need to assess whether you need additional training or credentials. While some employers are willing to provide on-the-job training, others will look for candidates who already possess their requirements. For details on a specific job, carefully review the job posting. Pay attention to sections labeled Requirements and Education and Experience.
Once youve determined that you are qualified for this career path, update your resume to reflect your relevant strengths and skills. It can be helpful to explore job postings to understand what employers in your industry and position are looking for in candidates.
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Find Ways To Stand Out
Many job postings will have hundreds of qualified applicants, and it can be difficult to get your resume to the top of the pile, particularly if youre changing careers. But you can employ a few strategies to get your application to stand out.
For example, be sure to keep a version of your resume on your mobile device so that you can apply to a job as soon as its posted. Many hiring managers want to fill a vacancy as quickly as possible, and it is often a plus getting your application in early.
Did you know?:Recruiters now use social media to find candidates, so its important to update your social media with relevant professional information as often as you can.
Figuring Out What The World Values
The final step in figuring out how youll get paid.
If you find something to do that you value and youre good at it but you dont get paid, thats a hobby, not a career. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with having hobbies. In fact, we all need something in our lives that we do for the pure and simple pleasure of doing it.
But that doesnt put food on your table or pay for your kids college.
You get paid based on the value you add to the world. So what does the world value enough to pay you for?
There are two ways to go about this:1. Take what you value and your strengths and look for market opportunities already present in the world.
A lot of people, once they figure out their values and strengths, will find that there are tons of job opportunities for their skill set.
Whether youre super into planning things like parties or birthdays or your grandparents 200th anniversary or youre an amazing cook and love to feed people, theres probably an existing job out there that will fit you well.
The key, thenbeyond making yourself the best candidate for the jobis to find the right place to work in your chosen field.Studies have shown there are, unsurprisingly, multiple factors that determine how satisfied you are with your job, and money isnt as big of a factor as you probably think9 .
2. Take your values and talents and look for where the market is under-serving the world and create something new to fill that gap.
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Begin By Determining What You Like To Do
Most people begin to explore career path that have good packages and try to follow professionals in that field. However, you should always identify your potential and identify what your interest is, analyze what you enjoy doing the most, what kind of people you respect, find what they do for work and know who your role model is. For example, you are skilled in technology and you like to develop new ideas to come up with new games, then why should you not look for a career in developing gaming softwares? Do a preliminary exercise to match your skills and experience to what you wish to do. This will require a lot of research, interviewing people and assessing your needs to build on what you want to do.
Read Some Job Descriptions
Youll have a good list by now of possible career options, and its now time to start narrowing down your list into a smaller selection of your favourites. Its worth bearing in mind that many jobs or careers sound more glamorous than they actually are. For example, being an airline pilot may sound very prestigious and jet-setty, but those in the know will often tell you that this role is essentially that of a bus driver. Its therefore important to approach career planning with your Realistic hat on, and not get swept up by a romantic ideal of what a job might be like. So, its time to start building up a realistic picture of what each of your career options really entails.Head to a recruitment website such as Indeed or Jobsite and search for jobs relevant to the careers youve written down. Read the job descriptions in detail and youll start to get a sense of the kind of tasks youd be expected to perform in that role. Youll also see salary details and a list of essential and desirable qualifications and attributes, so youll be able to see whether or not youd be temperamentally suited to such a job and whether its realistic for you to gain the requisite qualifications. The Job Profiles section of Total Jobs is a really useful resource at this stage of your search, as it tells you the nitty gritty details of numerous jobs, their good and bad points and what you need to do to succeed in each.
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Even With The Help Of A Career Counselor You May Not Be Sure What Is Truly Right For You Learn How To Decide If Your Current Career Is The Best For One You And How To Find The Right One If Not
- To help determine if youre in the wrong career, assess what you like and dont like about your current role.
- Approach a career change with an open mind and curiosity. You never know what might pique your interest.
- Find ways to make your application stand out from the crowd, and adequately prepare for every step of the hiring process.
- This article is for professionals who are unsure if theyre in the right career and wondering if theres a better fit.
Maybe youre questioning if youre passionate about your career or your passion is career-worthy.
Its hard for people to choose a career, because they can tend to focus on money instead of the job itself, said Amanda Andino, a former recruiting trainer at a Fortune 500 company. may take a job they wont be passionate about or enjoy because it pays well.
Whether youre an entry-level candidate or an experienced professional, follow these steps to find your ideal path.
Essential Questions To Ask Yourself When Choosing A Career
Your career has a big impact on your future. It will shape your identity, personal fulfilment, lifestyle, income, family and retirement. Dont let the opinions or expectations of others sway your decision making. Ultimately, your career choice is solely yours. In this article we explain how to decide on a future job and what factors to consider when weighing up the options so that you make the best informed decision for your future.
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Testcom: Career Aptitude Test
Rather than answer questions on a sliding scale of agree or disagree, this free career test shows four photos and you choose both your favorite and least favorite illustrated activity. After 15 questions, you get a Holland Code result, based on John Hollands theory of personality types and careers, along with a list of suggested occupations that match your specific type.
Careerfittercom: Work Personality Analysis
This 60-question quiz not only helps to identify your personality strengths, but also applies the results to how to find the right career. While you can check out the free career test version for your core strengths and management style, in our opinion, its worth the upgrade for the premium 10-page report that includes the best career choices for your personality type, details about potential weaknesses, and info about your ideal business environments.
Note: While the basic results are free, youll have to pay to see your full report.
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How Competitive Is This Career Path
Choosing a competitive career path isn’t to be automatically shunned. Competitive by its very nature means there must be a rich reward for those who are successful in attaining the post and therefore it is a worthwhile pursuit. You must, however, weigh up the risk vs. reward. Are you prepared to accept rejection and failure countless times before you’re accepted? Are you prepared to jump through as many hoops as required to reach this goal, such as further education, gaining internships and real-world work experience, and often extensive application and interview processes? If the answer is yes, then you probably have what it takes!
Next Learn About The Occupations On Your List
The results from your self assessment will include a list of occupations that are a good fit for you based on all the factors it examined, but the quest to find the right career doesn’t end here. While some of the occupations may be nearly perfect for you, others may be all wrong. Even though they are a good match for your personality type, interests, values, and aptitude, they may be unsuitable in other ways. For example, the job duties may not appeal to you, the outlook may be poor, or the required education or training could be more than you are willing to complete. Make an informed decision by exploring each of the careers on your list.
Read descriptions of the occupations and ignore your preconceived notions. Unless you have personal experience or have done prior research, there’s still a lot to learn before you can decide whether a career would be right for you.
If after finding out what it would be like to work in an occupation, it still interests you, see what the educational requirements are. If they don’t match your educational goals, cross it off your list. For example, if an advanced degree is required and that is not something you can commit to completing, don’t choose that career. Likewise, if you’ve always dreamed of going to college, don’t pick an occupation for which you only need a high school diploma.
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What To Do If You Dont Know What Career Path To Choose
One of the best things you can do when deciding what career you want is to change your approach. Many people think that finding a career path is about making a single decision and acting on it. That might be the process for some people, but most people make their decision over time.
If you reframe your approach to picking a career, so you see it as a process instead of a single decision, youll be able to relieve some stress and give yourself more time to consider your options. With a career choice process, you have more time to experiment and figure out what you really want, which will help you make the best decision in the long term.
Approaching this process can take many forms for different people, but well give you some tips for getting started. The most important part of the process is doing what feels right for you, so keep that in mind as you work through this decision.
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What Are My Transferable Career Skills
To discover your transferable career skills, consider the following:
Dont limit yourself to just your experiences at work. When you are thinking about your skills, consider all types of activities including volunteering, hobbies, and life experiences. For example, even if you dont have formal leadership or program planning experience, founding a book club or organizing a toy drive are ways that you have been putting these skills into practice.
List your accomplishments that might fit. Dont worry about formatting these skills for a resume at this point. You just want to start thinking about the skills you have. It can be a tremendous confidence booster to realize all of the talents youve developed.
Brainstorm with trusted friends, colleagues, or mentors. They may be able to identify transferable skills youve overlooked or help you better articulate these skills in the future.
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Write Out A List Of What You Think You Might Want From A Job
Keeping your list of interests, talents and possible careers in mind, have a careful think about what kind of things you consider important in a job and write them down on a separate page. Everyone has different priorities, and if youre honest with yourself about what you want, youre in with a much better chance of finding a suitable career. Your own priorities may be incompatible with the interests we just discussed for example, you might be interested in archaeology but want a big salary, while the two are incompatible for most people! Some examples of priorities with regard to jobs could include: A big salary/a salary over a certain level Lots of travelling opportunities The ability to help people Prestige Managing other people SellingThis list will form a checklist of priorities against which you can measure each of the career options you come across from now on.
How To Change Careers
It can be scary to change careers, particularly if youve been in one career for a while. Instead, look at this move as exciting and a way to try on a few different roles. You already determined youre ready for a change, so why not have fun with the process? Below youll find some tips to finding jobs in a new field.
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Arrange To Shadow Someone
If youve not been able to find a suitable internship, another option is to arrange to shadow someone whos doing the job youre interested in. If you ask nicely, youll probably find that plenty of companies are willing to let you do this. Doing so will give you an insight into the day-to-day reality of a job, so that you can see what sort of tasks youll be doing and how your possible career slots into wider business activities. Seeing someone at work in the career youre interested in doesnt just help you decide whether this is really what you want to be doing it will spur you on to achieve what theyve achieved. And we all need a little inspiration at times like these!Of course, you may well change your mind about what you want to do as you go through sixth form and university, and thats fine the main thing is to give some thought to it now so that you at least have a direction to follow and you can start building up some experience that will come in useful even if you decide to go a different way later on. The important thing to remember is that nothing is impossible. It doesnt matter how unusual a career you opt for, or how unattainable it may at first seem if its whats right for you, you can achieve it. All it takes is hard work and determination and if youre reading this article, were willing to bet that youre more than capable of this. Good luck!
